Dana Beatty: Seasonal displays at The Palazzo can take two years of planning
Editor’s Note: Our sincere thanks to the guest columnists who stood in for Robin Leach during his two months of annual summer travels. As he prepares for his return, Robin has interviews with Paralympics host Amy Purdy in Rio de Janeiro and Las Vegas magician Franz Harary in Macau in Friday Neon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Then in the RJ’s Sunday Life, we’ll have his story of the 100 new restaurants and vineyards that have sprung up just north of Ensenada in Mexico. Donald Trump isn’t the only one to visit! We’ll continue with our guest columnists until Robin’s full-time return.
Today, Dana Beatty, The Venetian and The Palazzo horticulture director, lets us in on her green thumb secrets. Our other guest is David Laird, the man we’ve deemed Lord of Balvenie Scotch, who keeps our watering holes well supplied with his favorite beverage. Here’s Dana:
By Dana Beatty
As the director of horticulture at The Venetian and The Palazzo, I am so lucky to be at the helm of a team who plans the “theme-scaping” floral scenes in our picturesque resorts. This includes the floral displays that bloom in our properties, with an emphasis on the seasonal displays that can be found in The Waterfall Atrium and Gardens in The Palazzo.
This is our centerpiece display that we update five times a year and is a huge draw for visitors. The time that goes into conceptualizing and executing these displays is a labor of love, and I’d like to share a behind-the-scenes look into the process. Many take one to two years of planning, and the process starts with research that fuels my inspiration once a theme is in mind.
As I create a concept, I take into account the space I have to work with, since the atrium is located in such a high-traffic area on property that also includes our esteemed retail and restaurant partners.
I want to make sure it’s something that is enjoyable to see over a two- to three-month window and transports our guests to another world. I also like to keep in mind the way it will look from several points-of-view, including a bird’s-eye view, since the shops are multi-level.
Once I feel that the concept is successful and ready to move forward, the visual elements start to take place through concept boards and renderings. It’s quite a production from start to finish, and I am so grateful to collaborate with a team of experts.
One of my favorite seasonal displays to plan is Chinese New Year, which is so important to our guests. I especially love the creativity process that goes into this annual display, as each year presents a new cultural element to research, embody and execute.
2016 is the Year of the Monkey, and our floral and horticulture team worked with a team of artisans and consulted with a Feng Shui master to create the display. To create a spectacular display for our guests, we began the planning process a year in advance.
Chinese New Year is very special to our guests, so it’s important to incorporate elements that bring luck to our display while creating a meaningful showcase they will always remember. The main feature of our Chinese New Year display was a 5-foot tall, 300-pound Monkey King seated at the base of a towering 38-foot-tall wishing tree.
His prominent chest plate was made of more than 8,000 hand-sewn gold coins, and he was draped in Swarovski crystals. Throughout the wishing tree’s 8,000 branches of golden foliage, guests could see 28 young and playful monkeys. The number 28 is auspicious in Chinese culture, representing “easy fortune,” so it was important for us to weave in this element.
We also featured eight giant, hand-painted peaches covered in Swarovski crystals. The monkeys extending a peach were wishing guests a long life. The display also featured eight gold-and-red 6-foot lanterns that were suspended over walkways of the Waterfall Atrium and Gardens.
The more than 1,000 blooming flowers included golden Phalaenopsis, cymbidium orchids, chrysanthemums and Oriental lilies and more than 1,200 plants included phormium grasses, philodendron, Ogon grass, tangerine trees, lucky bamboo trees, ivy, ferns and cast-iron plants.
We ordered plants 10 months in advance to guarantee colors and qualities. Once everything was in order and ready to execute, our team of horticulturists, designers and laborers worked overnight for 10 days to complete the changeover from winter decor to Chinese New Year.
Constructing and designing something that is authentic was important, so working with a Feng Shui master to ensure that our installation brought luck to the resort and our visitors was paramount. It’s such a rewarding experience.
After Chinese New Year, displays change over by season to spring, summer, fall and winter. I continue to draw inspiration from books, visual materials and decor elements. I am always planning and tapping into creative sources, as displays take one to two years to bring to fruition.
Please stop by to experience our summer and fall displays soon. As I am writing this now, I am well into 2017 planning and also dipping into 2018. If you have an idea of a display you’d like to share, please reach out to us @PalazzoVegas and @VenetianVegas.
Be sure to check out our other guest column today from David Laird, Lord of Balvenie Scotch. Robin has wrapped up his interviews in Macau with Franz Harary and Rio de Janeiro with Amy Purdy for stories from the Asian gaming capital and summer Paralympics, respectively, that we’ll have in Friday Neon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
